So we will soon be saying a sad farewell to QE2. In 17 months it will be sailing from the UK for the last time, en route to the Middle East, to end its days as a luxury floating hotel in Dubai.

Unfortunately for the QE2, 'age does matter'

I could hear the protests loud and clear as soon as I read that Cunard had sold the ship. Over its 40 years it has become an old friend to many people who are prepared to overlook its wrinkles because it is QE2 – the most famous ship in the world.

But all good things come to an end. Like the (original) Mini and telegrams, QE2 was a very good thing – it would not have survived 40 years if it were not – but the world has moved on, as has cruising.

When QE2 was built in the 1960s, a cruise holiday was something only the rich and retired could afford. Men and women were expected to dress for dinner every night and few expected anything quite so decadent as cabins with balconies.

Not any more. Cruising is no longer about black tie dinners – even on formal nights passengers invariably turn out in casual gear – or big bank balances, thanks to all the budget lines that have sprung up.

It is also ageless, appealing as much to families and couples in their 30s and 40s as those who have hit their half-century or already retired.

And just look at what is on board today’s ships. Royal Caribbean International is an extreme example with its rock-climbing walls, ice-skating rinks and surf parks, but modern vessels have cabins with balconies for all, not just those who can afford a penthouse, as is the case on QE2. They have three, four, even five swimming pools, kids’ clubs and teen areas.

Many have luxurious spas that rival some of the top health clubs on land. In 2008 Celebrity Cruises is launching a new ship, Solstice, with an AquaClass category of cabins, so spa lovers can spend even more time in their favourite place. There will also be speciality restaurants, often linked to a celebrity chef, giving a gourmet alternative to the main dining room.

Even Cunard’s other ships – QM2 at the moment, Queen Victoria as from December 2007 – eclipse QE2 in terms of facilities. The former has a luxurious spa (QE2 does have a spa, but nothing like that of its big sister) and planetarium.

Queen Victoria will have a Cunard museum and, harking back to the good old days, a top-deck Upper Grills Terrace reserved for those who can afford a suite or penthouse.

I have no doubt that QE2 lovers will say age doesn’t matter, that they don’t want any of these things, that actually QE2 is an ocean liner and that small cabins and a lack of balconies is a small price to pay for the elegance and history of sailing on the world’s most famous ship.

Unfortunately, though, age does matter. Not only does it cost a lot of money to keep QE2 going – refits and refurbishments over the past 40 years have cost more than 10 times what it cost to build the ship in 1967 – but Cunard has to look to the future, to a time when fewer passengers are happy to trade their expectations for a slice of history.

Cunard said it would keep QE2 going as long as it could be maintained and there was demand, but realistically it is time to call time. The cruise line probably can’t believe its luck – $100 million and a guarantee that the ship will be kept in a manner to which it has become accustomed, which has to be a better end than a final trip to the scrapyard.